A Masters class experience

Editor's note: Hundreds of University of South Carolina students sign up each year
to work the Masters Tournament. A public relations senior, Juilette LaFerlita, describes
her second experience working the Masters.

Augusta National Golf Club hosts the Masters Tournament. It is one of the most prestigious
golf tournaments on the PGA Tour.

Working the 2017 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club was an experience
unlike any other. Waking up at 4:30 each morning and spending nearly 15 hours on your
feet for seven days straight may sound agonizing, but that’s only because it is. The
payoff, however, is indescribable.

As a server at Berckmans Place, a relatively new addition to Augusta National, I learned
more about myself and others than I ever thought I could. I met patrons from around
the world— Dubai, Australia, Scotland, Vancouver and beyond— and somehow made a connection
with each and every one of them. It is encouraging to know that we are not as divided
as many believe.

I also became friends with fellow student employees that I would have never met otherwise.
These new friends understood the exhaustion felt during each workday, but they also
understood the elation that came with working at the most prestigious golf event in
the world. We genuinely enjoyed enhancing the Masters experience of the patrons we
served, making all of the pain in our feet eventually fade away.

LaFerlita worked with other students and staff at Berckmans Place.

I gained valuable life lessons, like patience and perseverance, as well as how to
balance eight tall glasses on one tray. I was fortunate enough to walk around the
grounds of Augusta National, an opportunity that many will never have in their lifetime.
The course is almost like a storybook — the greenest grass and most perfectly manicured
landscape I’ve ever seen. I stood several feet away from some of the top names in
golf, congratulating them on their success in the tournament while desperately hoping
to make eye contact with Jordan Spieth.

Thanks to a friend who was a part of the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport
Management, I reached out to an instructor within the college who had direct connections
to Augusta National. Augusta National recruits nearly 350 University of South Carolina
students each year to work the Masters Tournament — an honor, privilege and incredible
opportunity for students studying in HRSM.

Though I will graduate with a degree in public relations, I found myself itching to
apply for the Masters in 2015 and then again in 2017 for one final glance into the
mystique of Augusta National. Maybe one day I’ll be a patron at the Masters, wearing
something other than a green chef’s coat while I spend far too much money in the Pro
Shop. But for now, I’ll cherish the moments that made the 2017 Masters so special
and the colleagues who became friends.

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